Lesser Town Square

Lesser Town Square (Malostranské náměstí) is the central square of the Lesser Town in Prague. The buildings in its middle, above all the Church of St Nicholas, divide it into a lower and an upper part.^[1] The Royal Route passes through the square.^[2]*

History

The Lesser Town was founded as a town in 1257 under King Ottokar II. It was first called the New Town, then the Lesser Town of Prague, and from the 15th century Malá Strana.^[2][1] The square was laid out between the Castle and the fortified seats of the Knights of St John and the Bishop of Prague by the bridge. Streets led from it to the Újezd, Strahov and Písek gates.^[2] In the middle stood the small Church of St Wenceslas with a cemetery, and later the town hall, the parish house and a school. South of the rotunda the Church of St Nicholas was consecrated in 1283.^[2] After 1625 the Jesuits acquired the church with the school and the parish. The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 6 September 1673.^[2]

Names

The two parts were first called the Upper and Lower Market. From the 16th to the mid-19th century the upper part was called Vlašský plac after its Italian residents. Until 1869 the square was then named after Archduke Stephen. The name Malostranské náměstí has been in use since 1869.^[2] In the second half of the 19th century a monument to Field Marshal Radetzky was erected on the square. It is now kept in the lapidarium of the National Museum.^[2]

Buildings

In the lower part stands the former Lesser Town Hall, No. 35, which served as the town hall from 1478 until the Prague towns were united in 1784. The Bohemian Confession was drawn up here in 1575.^[2] During a reconstruction in 2008 its three towers were restored.^[1] Further buildings include the house U Splavínů with a fresco of the Coronation of the Virgin and the Kaiserstein Palace with statues of the four elements by Ottavio Mosto from 1701. The western side is closed by the Hartig and Liechtenstein palaces.^[1] In the middle of the upper part stands the plague column of the Holy Trinity from 1715 with statues of the Virgin Mary and five Bohemian patron saints. Fountains, vases and putti were added in 1772.^[1] Giovanni Battista Alliprandi, Jan Oldřich Mayer and Ferdinand Geiger worked on the column.^[2] From the square Nerudova Street climbs towards the Castle, and Mostecká Street leads to the Lesser Town Bridge Towers and Charles Bridge.^[2][3]

Sources

1. Magistrát hl. m. Prahy (Praha virtuální)
2. Městská část Praha 1
3. Magistrát hl. m. Prahy (Praha virtuální)